Functionalized nanomaterial based on tungsten disulfide (WS₂) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) activated by radiation for cancer therapy

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Traditional anticancer ther-apies, such as Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and Radiotherapy often have limitations related to low efficacy and side effects, highlighting the need for more effective cancer treatments. PDT typically relies on UV–NIR light to activate a photosensitizer that generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), but it is restricted to superficial tumors due to limited light penetration. Similar-ly, Radiotherapy uses high-energy X-rays to di-rectly damage cancer cells, leading as well to numerous side effects on healthy tissues. Recent-ly, the use of X-rays in PDT has emerged as a promising alternative due to deeper tissue pene-tration. In this context, nanotechnology offers new opportunities, with 2D nanomaterials show-ing promise as radiosensitizers due to their unique physicochemical properties. This study presents a novel biocompatible nanomaterial de-signed as a radiosensitizer, consisting of func-tionalized 2D nanocrystals (WS₂) combined with gold nanoparticles, that can be internalized by cells and activated by low-energy X-rays to lo-cally enhance the radiation effect and selectively kill cancer cells (Figure 1). The ability of the novel nanomaterial to generate ROS under X-ray irradiation was assessed through cell-free exper-iments using the specific ROS-sensitive probe 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran. Subsequently, in vitro experiments were conducted on HT-29 cancer cells to evaluate the cytotoxicity and effi-cacy of the novel nanomaterial at different con-centrations and X-ray doses. Cell viability was determined by cell counting, cell cycle analysis was assessed by flow cytometry and DNA dam-age was evaluated using γ-H2AX antibody fol-lowed by confocal microscopy analysis. Our findings revealed that this nanomaterial ampli-fies the effect of radiation in cancer cells, acting as an effective radiosensitizer.